


Keith's Not-So-Blue Christmas

by ninjawrites



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, Christmas Angst, Cuban Lance (Voltron), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Gen, Keith (Voltron) Has Anxiety, Platonic Relationships, a friendship holiday special
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:22:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28236132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ninjawrites/pseuds/ninjawrites
Summary: With Shiro overseas for yet another year, Keith has resigned himself to staying in the dorms for winter break. However, as his roommate and second-best friend, Lance is determined not to leave Keith lonely for Christmas.
Relationships: Keith & Lance (Voltron), Keith & Shiro (Voltron)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 21





	Keith's Not-So-Blue Christmas

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Shastelly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shastelly/gifts).



> I haven't written a Voltron fic for a while, but I was so excited to participate in the Secret Santa event on IcyPanther's Patreon this year. Hope you enjoy!
> 
> Prompt: Lance and Keith Holiday Angst
> 
> P.S. Covid doesn't exist in this universe, so just pretend lol

He did it. Somehow, some way, Keith managed to ruin Christmas.

The emergency room was bustling for eleven o'clock at night, probably because of the simple fact that it was Christmas Eve, or Noche Buena as Lance had called it. Keith buried his face in his hands as he attempted to ignore the ache in his back from sitting in the less than comfortable hospital chair.

Not such a good night as they thought. After almost an hour of waiting, Lance was finally taken back for an x-ray, probably to reset the bone too. That was two hours ago. And here he was, sat next to Lance's father in a crowded emergency room on what was supposed to be the happiest night of the year for his family. And it was all Keith's fault. 

Somehow, someway, bad luck seems to always attach itself to Keith. He never should have accepted Lance's offer less than a week ago.

* * *

“What do you mean, you’re staying here?”

Keith glanced up from where he was seated on the sunken futon, typing away at the final report for his LIT 220 class. "What do you mean, _what do you mean?_ I said, I'm staying in the dorms."

Lance gave an indignant squawk, but Keith didn't have to look away from the screen to know the scandalized look plastered on the other boy's face. Keith pretended to be absorbed in his assignment, as he very much did not want to have this conversation. Plenty of people never went anywhere for winter break, whether it was for the insane Winter-mester classes or simply because it was too much of a bother to travel home. Gather, Keith never really talked to any of these people anyways last year, but it wasn't like he was the type who needed a social life anyways. Shiro always managed to video call from overseas more often during this time of the year. 

"But...You...that's..." Lance tried multiple times to form a coherent sentence but eventually he settled with, "But it's Christmas!"

"I know." Keith shrugged. "Plenty of people stay in the dorms over winter break Lance, it's not that weird. Besides, I did it last year. I survived."

"You did?" Lance said, and Keith turned to see his brows furrowed. "How come? I thought you'd want to spend it with like...family or something."

"I do, Lance." Keith shut his laptop and forced himself to face his roommate. "But Shiro's halfway across the world right now, and they denied his leave again, so that's...basically it."

Lance's face fell. "You mean you have nowhere else to go?"

Keith huffed. He did not like the pity he could see on Lance's face right now. Despite their rough start as begrudging lab partners, their friendship had grown enough over freshman year to want none other than each other to be their roommates this sophomore year. So far it had gone swimmingly, despite the occasional bathroom hogging (Lance) and horribly unhealthy sleep schedule (Keith). But Lance never seemed to know when to stop poking his nose into other people's business.

"Dude, it's fine. Pidge invited me for Christmas dinner last year. I wasn't suffering and alone like you seem to think I am."

"But you _know_ that Pidge's family is going to Hawaii this Christmas," Lance responded, cocking both a hip and an eyebrow. "And Hunk is off to San Francisco, so don't try to trick me like that, Mullet." 

Keith cursed inwardly. He did know. He did genuinely enjoy spending the day with the Holt's, but it was still just... weird, being an outsider again. Like he was intruding on someone else's family. 

He'd only been in foster care for a year before Shiro managed to get custody of him after his father died, but it still gave him memories. Despite being his second cousin and Keith's closest living relative, it was a while before he could get legal permission as a single, active duty Marine to become his guardian.

The moment Keith turned eighteen however, they shipped him out as quickly as possible.

"Why are you so obsessed with this?" Keith stood up and grabbed his laptop, ready to lock himself up in his room, but Lance gasped and grabbed his hand.

"Do you really think so little of me? Your beloved roommate, your best friend?"

Keith lifted a brow. "Pidge is my best friend." He deadpanned. Though in reality Lance had squirmed his way to a close second in the rankings, solely because Keith had known Pidge longer.

Surprisingly, Lance just nodded. "Fine, second-best friend." He poked a finger into Keith's chest. "Only because you've known Pidge longer." 

Dammit.

"But still, you underestimate me Mullet. I am not going to let you sit and wallow away your winter break like that. You, Keith Kogane, are going to get a taste of the McClain Christmas spirit if I have to drag you to Los Angeles myself!" 

Lance then proceeded to bolt into his room and slam the door shut, leaving Keith behind in the whirlwind. He had absolutely no idea what was going on. 

Unsure of whether to remain standing in the hallway, Keith set himself back on the futon, taking advantage of the _Lance-free_ time he had to get back to work. It wasn't until Keith had zoned out and managed to make it to the next paragraph that Lance came bursting out of his room just as fast as he had disappeared into it, this time waving two sheets of paper in his hand and slamming them on the coffee table in front of Keith.

"What the hell is happening right now..." Keith mumbled to himself as he leaned forward to read the printed...tickets?

PHX --> LAX  
DEC 22 7:30 AM MST - 8:42 AM PST

LAX --> PHX  
JAN 5 2:30 PM PST - 3:30 PM MST

Lance clapped his hands together, and Keith looked up at him in confusion to see the brightest grin on his face that Keith had ever seen.

"Well?" Lance shifted from foot to foot.

"Lance, would you please just spit it out?" 

"You're coming home with me for Christmas!" Lance exclaimed.

Keith's jaw dropped unconsciously, and he glanced back at the tickets. There they were, two tickets for a round trip flight from Phoenix to Los Angeles. Lance just bought him plane tickets.

"Lance I..." He glanced up to see Lance still barely reigning in his excitement. "This is too much, I-I can't..."

"Oh, shush, it's no problem. My dad gets a certain number of miles each year 'cause he, like, works with the airline - it's how I'm able to fly back and forth so often - and he has to use these anyway by the end of the year, or else they'll just, disappear, so really, it's like you're doing us a favor-mph" Keith silenced his ramble with a hand over his mouth.

"Lance, it's not that, it's...ugh gross," Keith reeled his hand back in disgust at Lance licking his hand. He should've known better. Lance gave him an impish grin as Keith wiped his hand on his jeans. "Lance listen to me. I'm not going to barge in on your family's Christmas like that."

Lance's face suddenly drooped. "What? You're not barging in-"

"You don't have to do this, I know you feel sorry for me but-"

"Whoa whoa whoa. I'm gonna stop you right there." He took one of the tickets and slapped it into Keith's hand. "Keith, my buddy, my man. I. Want. You. To. Come."

Keith looked down at the ticket. His stomach churned at the prospect. The last thing he wanted to do was be a bother, especially because he _knew_ Lance's family was big. Surely he'd just be in the way.

But, he also really didn't want to stay alone again. Yeah, he'd survived last year, it was fine. But really, really boring, and in the worst moments, he'd missed Shiro badly. And now that he'd gotten to know Lance, he had a feeling it would be that much more...empty without his liveliness.

Keith looked at Lance hesitantly. "Did you ask your mom? I don't want to make anymore work for her."

"Of course!" Lance said. "She's actually very excited to meet you, in fact, if you didn't show up you'd probably just break her heart, and you don't want to do that on Christmas would you?" Lance put on his best puppy eyes, while Keith just rolled his.

"...fine." Keith said, and Lance jumped into the air with a whoop.' "I guess it would be kinda fun."

"Of course it will! This is gonna be so great. Just you wait Keith, I'm going to blow your emo socks off with Christmas spirit!"

Keith chuckled and leaned back on the futon. "I'd like to see you try."

* * *

It seems Lance had considered that last sentence a challenge, because by the time their plane had landed in LAX, Keith could probably give you an itemized list of every Christmas tradition Lance was looking forward to. It sounded, really nice, to be honest, he didn't even know family's could even have this many things they'd do every year. But it was also a little intimidating. Either way, Keith was determined to be in the way as little as possible. Hopefully the McClain family was the type that would understand if he needed a little space, and not be offended that he wasn't out and socializing.

Quiznak, this was going to be terrifying, wasn't it.

"...and my mama makes the best lechon asado, it's a pork roast, and oh my god the best thing ever. Just wait till you try it." Keith tuned back in to Lance's ramble, his excitement clearly growing as they got closer and closer to the passenger pickup area. "Hey, you good?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah." Keith said, taking in the blue sky of Los Angeles and the sheer number of cars passing by. It wasn't chilly, but neither was it warm like he'd expected. Kind of the same as Phoenix to be honest. 

"So." Lance said as they stood waiting for Lance's sister to come pick them up. "Now that I've managed to talk your ear off about my family-" Keith elbowed him with a crooked brow, move he used once he began to notice how self-conscious Lance was, sort of a reminder that it's okay to be himself around Keith. Lance's lip curled up bashfully as he registered the encouragement. "Do you and Shiro have any Christmas traditions?"

Keith shrugged. "A couple," he said. "We always watch Die-Hard on Christmas Eve."

Lance clutched his stomach and snorted. "Of course you do."

"What? It's a Christmas classic!"

Lance lifted up his hands in surrender. "Hey man, I agree. Just know that if you say that around Luis, he'll challenge you to a full on debate."

"Oh, don't worry, I've got plenty of defense for that."

"Good." Lance chuckled. "What other things did you and Shiro do?

"We always liked to look at lights, each year we'd compete to try to find the neighborhoods with the best ones." He smiled at the memory. "Some of the ones in the rich neighborhoods are insane, where there are complete streets of people trying to out-do each other. Me and Shiro always laugh at how pretentious they are."

"Dude that sounds awesome. There are some good light shows around our neighborhood we can look at. Nadia and Sylvio are _obsessed_ with them." Lance smiled, then looked down at his hands and started to fidget. "What about...did you have any traditions with your dad?"

Keith paused. There was a twinge in his gut as he remembered the dry desert Christmases they would spend, just the two of them. It wasn't painful, they were good memories. If anything, Keith regretted how little he remembered of them.

"That-that's okay, you don't have to answer if you don't want to-" Lance scrambled to apologize.

"No, no, you're good." Keith reassured him. "I just, don't really remember specifically. We'd do all the normal Christmas things, he'd go pick up a Christmas tree from the local town, we'd listen to Christmas music, open presents Christmas morning." A smile came over him as an image he hadn't thought in a while came over him. "I'd always get shoes, for Christmas." Keith said. "No matter what. A pair of converse, in a new color. Every year."

"Every year?" Lance asked.

"Yeah. I kinda forgot about that actually. I grew out of them often enough to need them every year." 

A pair of red converse. The last ones his dad ever gave him. He wore them through the sole by the time he grew out of them, but before he could keep them, his foster mom had thrown them away, oblivious to how much they meant to him. He'd been too heartbroken to tell Shiro the next year, knowing a new pair would never replace the old ones.

"That sounds really cool." Lance gave him an encouraging smile, when something over Keith's shoulder suddenly caught his attention. "Veronica!" Lance shouted and started waving his hand. Keith turned to see a woman who looked very much like Lance driving a dark blue pickup.

The truck swerved up to the curve, stopping fast before the two of them. Keith stood still, unsure what to do as Lance's sister jumped out of the car and into Lance's arms. A bit of Spanish was thrown here and there, as the siblings reunited, and Keith had another painful twinge at the thought of Shiro. Veronica finally turned to Keith. 

"You're the roommate, huh?" Veronica offered her hand and Keith shook it.

"Uh, yup. That's me."

"It's great to meet you. We're really glad you could come. Here, you can slide your bag in the back." 

Keith nodded and did as he was told. He slid into the backseat of the truck and listened silently as Lance and Veronica caught up on the drive to the McClain home, determined to be as invisible as possible.

* * *

Winter break at the McClain house, well, Keith could say he was pleasantly surprised.

What he thought would be an insane amount of people, bustling through the house getting ready for the impending holiday, was actually...well it was just that. But there wasn't the scary bickering and stressful planning that he had expected there to be with a large family. Instead, the house had a warm and cozy feeling, one startlingly similar to the quiet comfort of his childhood with his father. He wasn't sure how to feel about that.

The house was decorated and festive, tree decorated with all sorts of mismatched ornaments, handmade and passed down through the years. (As Lance painstakingly took the time to point out each one.) While Keith did his best to interact politely and not intrude, the rest of the family seemed to respect that, making sure to welcome him and talk to him every so often, without demanding or questioning anything about why he was here. At first Keith was afraid perhaps he wasn't helping enough, that maybe this was the type of house where everyone had to share their weight of the work, but the moment Mrs. McClain shooed him out of the kitchen with a smile, he figured maybe it was okay to relax a little.

So, he stuck like glue to Lance, who in return seemed to use Keith's 'guest privileges' as an excuse to get _out_ of the work as much as possible. Keith didn't mind though. They did things like seeing the neighborhood lights with Lance's niece and nephew, and watching an insane number of Christmas movies just because. When they wanted to avoid people, Lance showed him how to climb out his bedroom window, where he'd sit on the roof for a bit of peace and quiet growing up with four siblings.

Seeing Lance interact with his siblings however, hit Keith harder than he expected. Despite Shiro being his guardian, he was more like a protective older brother than any sort of father figure. And with Lance being the youngest, the banter and the teasing just made Keith miss Shiro that much more. It was hard to see, when he hadn't even been hugged by his brother in over a year.

He waited patiently for a call. Shiro would text occasionally, single instances where he could get away for a moment, but he hadn't been able to video chat since before finals, when Keith had told Shiro about Lance's invitation. 

It was worth it just to see the relief on Shiro's face when he heard Keith wouldn't be alone again this year.

But he hadn't called since, and Keith was getting anxious. He didn't know a lot about what Shiro did, the marine made sure to keep that information close to his chest, but it didn't help him worry less. By Christmas Eve, Keith was checking and re-checking his phone compulsively, just hoping for something. Lance seemed to notice, but when he'd furrow his brow in concern Keith would brush it off.

* * *

Christmas Eve, as it turned out, was a bigger event in the McClain household than Christmas Day. Keith learned this when suddenly the number of people in the house tripled as the day went on. The living room was set up with extra chairs and tables, and warm delicious food was somehow appearing magically from the kitchen. Thankfully, when he asked if he could help this time, he was not turned away, grateful for something to do to ward off the anxiety.

As the night went on however, Keith couldn't seem to get out of his head. He had managed to square himself off in a corner, a warm cup of coffee to keep himself from reaching for his phone, but eventually it became too much. He slipped away and without much thinking, found himself on the roof outside Lance's window, in the dark December night air.

"Can I get a little fresh air too or am I intruding on quality brooding time?"

Keith turned at the sound of Lance's voice, the other half clambered out the window.

"Oh, no...I don't mind." Keith said, turning back to look out upon the array of neighborhood lights. He pulled his knees up to his chest and flipped his phone in his hands mindlessly.

There was a few moments of silence before Lance spoke up.

"You probably really miss him don't you."

"Huh?"

"Shiro." Lance gestured to his hand. "He hasn't called you has he."

Keith let out a shuddering breath. Of course Lance could read him like a book. He nodded.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Keith shrugged. "You were just, so happy with your family. I didn't want to put that on you."

"Hey, whoa." Lance put a hand on his arm. "I'm your friend, that's what I'm here for. If you're not having fun, then neither am I. And if sharing what you're going through makes you happier? Then I'll hundred percent share that burden."

Keith stared at Lance for a moment, then covered the hand on his arm with his own. He was never that great at making or keeping friendships, so he always seemed to forget what they were really for. He always tried to brave everything on his own, and here was someone who, under his loud and energetic exterior, cared so much for his friends. 

Keith nodded, and in that simple gesture, he knew Lance read the apology it was. "Thanks." Keith let out a breath, staring at his phone, willing something to happen. "There's nothing I can do about it, but he hasn't called. He always tries to call on Christmas Eve."

Lance moved his arm around Keith's shoulder. "I guess all we can do is wait. But I'm sure he's okay." Lance shook his shoulder. "I'll wait with you."

Keith leaned into Lance's shoulder, as they sat in silence for a few moments.

"Okay, maybe we should wait inside where it's warmer. I'm freezing my buns off." 

Keith laughed. "Wimp." 

Lance stuck his tongue out and moved to stand up, but suddenly he lost his footing on a particularly loose piece of tile.

"Lance!" Keith shouted as he reached forward, but his gloved hand just barely missed Lance's fingers as he stumbled and slid backwards. The last things Keith saw was Lance's wide blue eyes as he dropped right over the edge of the roof.

Keith froze in shock as he heard a thud, then a pained scream from the ground below. He hurried towards the edge and saw Lance curled up on the ground, clutching his leg to his chest as he let out muffled groans. 

"Lance!" Keith yelled again, unable to hide the worry in voice. Lance had just fallen off the roof. A commotion started inside, as some of the family hurried outside to investigate. Keith climbed over the edge, hanging from his hands before letting himself drop to his feet onto the grass and darting over to his friend's side.

"Gaaah," Lance was seething and gritting his teeth, still clutching his leg. Keith could see tears brimming in his eyes. 

"Are you okay? Oh my god, Lance-" Keith's hands hovered over Lance, unsure what to do or where he could put them. Luis and Rachel had appeared on his other side.

"What happened?" Mrs. McClain gasped in the light streaming from the house.

"Lance fell off the roof! I saw it!" Rachel shouted. Luis tried to search Lance's head for wounds but Lance just brushed him away.

"Nngh...I'm fine, just...landed on my leg wrong, gaaaah _Dios_ somethings broken somethings broken-" Lance suddenly clutched Keith's hand in his and Keith let him clench it in a death grip through the pain. It hurt but he didn't care, Lance was obviously in much more pain.

The rest of the night was a blur, Keith remembers helping Lance's brothers load him into the back of the family van and sitting with him as Mr. McClain drove them to the nearest ER. He wasn't quite sure why it was him who came along and not Marco or Luis, though he realized it was probably due to the fact that Lance wouldn't let go of his hand the entire way there. 

And now, waiting in a crowded emergency room with a bruised hand and a ruined Christmas Eve, Keith was regretting ever coming. 

By the time Lance was released, it was one in the morning. Christmas morning. They wheeled him out in a wheelchair, leg bound up in a cast along with a prescription for pain meds and a scheduled doctor's appointment. By the look on Lance's face, though his eyes were red and tears were dried on his cheeks, the medicine seemed to be working.

"Keith! My buddy, my man!"

Yes, the pain meds were working.

"How are you feeling?" Keith asked as Mr. McClain finished up with the nurses. 

"Oh me? I'm great. I wasn't great earlier, but that was before. They had to set the bone though, and that _sucked_." 

Keith winced in sympathy. "Lance, I'm so sorry, this is all my fault."

"Dude what? No way. I've been up on that roof for years, and you know how many time's I've fallen?" Lance looked at his fingers curiously then stuck a pointer finger in Keith's face. "One! That's how many times. Mama's always yelling at me about it. She's going to be mad isn't she?"

"I'm sure she's just worried about you. Anyways, I...I'm just really sorry Lance."

"Hey, ssh. None of that." Lance waved him off. "It's Christmas."

"Yeah, it is." Keith said, but it didn't make him feel any better. Apparently now was not the time to be talking about this, with a drugged up Lance and an over-exhausted Keith. By the time they reached the house, Lance was snoring fast asleep on Keith's shoulder. Still, he couldn't get rid of the gnawing feeling of guilt that plagued him. 

The rest of the house had fallen fast asleep except for Mrs. McClain, who stood waiting anxiously by the door. They carried Lance to the couch she had made up for him, the stairs being too difficult for him to navigate right now. The colorful glow of the tree seemed even brighter and entrancing in the darkness of the room.

"It's a tradition for him anyways." Mr. McClain mentions. "He used to stay up late trying to catch Santa Clause. Now he does it just to be stubborn." 

As Lance's parents said good night and went up the stairs, Keith decided he wasn't going to get any sleep anyway, and planted himself on the ottoman next to Lance. He leaned back and closed his eyes, but he must have been more exhausted than he thought, because he opened them to the subtle light of dawn. 

Keith sat up, his blurry vision adjusting to the glare of the tree lights for a moment. As it finally cleared, he realized Lance was sitting up on the couch, awake with a disgruntled look on his face.

"Lance?" Keith moved to sit next to him, unsure what he would say.

Lance furrowed his brow. "I can't believe I missed Santa Claus." 

Keith was confused, wondering if the pain meds hadn't worn off yet, before he realized the number of presents under the tree had doubled since last night. "What?"

Lance huffed. "I've been trying to catch my parents in the act for years. But it never freaking works! They're like ninjas."

"Oh my god. Lance." Keith presses a gloved hand to his brow. "You're twenty years old." When there was no response, he looked up to see Lance's eyes closed in pain. Keith cursed. He ran to the kitchen to fill a water glass and came back to hand Lance the prescription bottle.

"Thanks man." Lance said as he took the medicine. "Listen, I'm so-

"Lance, I'm so sorry." Keith said the same time as Lance.

"What?" Lance looked at him in confusion, his hair still messed from sleep. "What are you sorry for?"

"If you hadn't followed me out-" Keith was cut off by a finger to his lips.

"No. None of that. This is not your fault." Lance said. "Nope. Nope!" He continued when Keith opened his mouth to protest. "I was the stupid one. You can't disagree with me. It's Christmas."

"That's not what Christmas is about."

"I don't care. I don't care that I broke my leg on Christmas Eve. This is like one of the best Christmases ever, because you are here."

"What?"

"Of course Keith! I got to show you my home town, we got to do all the fun Christmas stuff together, without my siblings breathing down my neck." Lance chuckled. "To be honest I wasn't sure you'd agree when I asked, so I'm really happy you said yes. And if you try to blame this all on yourself one more time, I'm going to punch you in the face in the name of friendship and love until you believe me."

Keith was frozen for a moment in shock, before he bent over snorting in laughter. "I...that's valid."

"Of course it is. Now, hand me that box over there, the red one with the green sticker...yes!" Keith handed him the box only for it to be pushed back towards him. At second glance, he managed to read the label with his name on it, and he looked up to see Lance rubbing his neck sheepishly.

"I thought, you know, because you told me about the tradition with your dad, you would like these." He said. Keith looked at him curiously before peeling back the paper, his breath catching in his chest as he saw the familiar star label.

He opened the box to a pair of fresh red converse.

And so, while sifting through and handing Lance his present, Keith pretended he wasn't crying. Because this was a different Christmas than he was used to, but it was so much better than the last one.

And when the phone lit up with Shiro's name on it a few minutes later, he could safely say this Christmas was one he wouldn't forget.

**Author's Note:**

> Be nice to Shiro, he was on a secret mission and wasn't allowed to contact anyone. 
> 
> Keith will definitely wear those converse until they have holes in the soles.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
